


they'll take a knee

by wlwrwby



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Fluff, JanuRWBY, Romance, Whiterose, gay people, no beta we die like redheads in rwby, not too much angst this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28554048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wlwrwby/pseuds/wlwrwby
Summary: “And Weiss knew without hesitation: if the gods were to return at this very instant, they would kneel before Ruby Rose. They would bow at her feet and treat her as more than an equal. For her mortal life meant so much more than their infinite existences.”The story of Weiss and Ruby, from Beacon and beyond.
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 9
Kudos: 88





	they'll take a knee

**Author's Note:**

> JanuRWBY day 4 prompt: Favorite Ship/Friendship

From the first moment Weiss Schnee laid eyes on Ruby Rose, she knew that she was something special. She knew her life was about to change. Before she had even quite literally run into her, she had picked her out of the crowd. It was impossible not to. She stood out - you could easily match her voice to her face, she was shorter and noticeably younger than everyone else, but she more than made up for it in obvious enthusiasm and passion. And those _eyes_. 

It was practically more life than Weiss had seen her entire existence all packed into one person. She wanted nothing more than to approach her, ask her name and look into those eyes for the first time of what would hopefully become many. But she was a Schnee, the heiress at that, and there were more important things to do. She had a reputation, after all. 

So when, despite her best efforts at driving her away, the girl pushed herself into her life again and again, even managing to become her partner and team leader? She decided it must’ve been fate after all. Destiny, some would call it. Despite her outwardly cold, frigid even, exterior, she was happy. 

Weiss couldn’t remember the last time she could say that. 

Weiss Schnee had been cold so long, she didn’t even know that she was cold. Ruby Rose showed her warmth. 

* * *

“And besides, I don’t even know how to dance!” 

The pair of fire and ice were settled on Weiss’s bed, alone in their dorm room. Yang had gone to find Blake to make sure she didn’t run herself into the ground any more than she already had, leaving Weiss and Ruby alone for a while. Weiss had made them both coffee in the meantime, and, much to Ruby’s awe, remembered exactly how she took it. And with the dance coming up, Weiss had decided it was the perfect time to make sure Ruby was ready for it. 

Weiss scoffed, “Even if you don’t have a date; which is perfectly fine, allow me to remind you, you still might want to dance with someone. Or someone might ask you and you’ll be too awkward to say no. So wouldn’t you rather know how in that situation?” 

Ruby sputtered a brief second, knowing her partner was absolutely right, and apparently, knew her far too well. She breathed out a long, over dramatic sigh, giggling when she saw Weiss predictably roll her eyes, a smile on her face nonetheless. 

“Okay. Fine.” 

Weiss smiled even brighter and hastened to place her coffee down before standing up and extending a hand to her partner. 

“May I have this dance?” 

That’s how they spent the afternoon: Weiss teaching Ruby a basic waltz step as many times as it took, softly scolding her and encouraging her throughout. Eventually, they gave up on proper form to simply dance with each other. They held each other tight and softly swayed to a music no one else could hear. 

And there in the days before the Vytal Festival, before the world came crashing down and each other’s presence was a mere memory, it was perfect. Because they had each other in their arms, and that was all that mattered. In that moment, nothing could tear them apart. 

* * *

There had been a time after Salem retreated from Atlas when Ruby had snuck away from the group at night, unnoticed by the rest of their sleeping teammates. But Weiss noticed. She always did. 

She silently followed her partner as she walked down the hallways of her childhood prison, waiting to see where she would stop. The kitchen was her leader’s destination. She leaned in the doorway as Ruby shuffled through cabinets, seemingly searching for something. She watched her with an impossibly fond smile. 

“Looking for something?” 

Ruby jumped from her perch on top of the countertop where she was trying to reach something. It didn’t go unnoticed how she instinctively reached for her Crescent Rose. Just another way the war has changed us, Weiss thought. 

“Oh! Umm, hey Weiss. I’m just looking for coffee.” 

Weiss lifted an eyebrow. “At midnight?” 

Ruby shifted under her gaze. “...Yes?” 

Weiss sighed, making her way over to her partner. She took her hands. She took just a moment to marvel at how much power they held, but were so gentle in her own. 

“Ruby.” The girl in question met her eyes. “Something’s bothering you. You don’t have to tell me, but _please_ tell someone. I’m worried about you.” 

Silver eyes filled with tears. Ruby nodded. 

“No, I’ll tell you. Just not now. I just wanna be with you right now.”  


Weiss softened, lifting her hands to Ruby’s cheeks to wipe her tears. “Alright. How about tomorrow morning over coffee?” 

Ruby leaned her forehead against Weiss’s, a tired sigh parting from her lips. “Alright.” 

The two stood there for a second, Weiss’s hands cradling Ruby’s face like it was the most precious thing in the world as they basked in each other’s presence. There was no Salem, no evil, no Gods. Just Weiss and Ruby. Just Weiss and Ruby, softly swaying in each other’s arms, dancing in the kitchen and calling it love. 

That morning, despite going to bed later than everyone else, they were the first awake. And Ruby made good on her promise to Weiss. She poured out her heart as Weiss held her hand and looked at her like she had hung the stars. And when she was done, she felt lighter as Weiss spoke words of comfort and support. She realized she wasn’t quite done. There was still something she had to say. 

“I love you.” 

Weiss stopped mid-sentence, her expression morphing into one of adorable surprise as she processed what Ruby had just said. Pink dusted her cheeks as she seemed to melt. Ruby thought it was the cutest thing she’d ever seen. 

Weiss looked her partner in those silver eyes that she’d loved since day one and felt the world stop and hold its breath. 

“Dolt,” she laughed, impossibly soft. “I love you too.” 

The two leaned in with fluttering hearts and shared their first kiss. It was short and sweet, dizzying and unreal. To Weiss, it tasted like cream and five sugars. 

Ruby pulled apart with a laugh that Weiss couldn’t help but mirror. 

“You have no many times how many times I’ve dreamt of that,” Ruby breathed out. 

Weiss placed a hand on Ruby’s cheek, tracing her blush. “Dolt.” 

Ruby swung her legs and leaned in with a smile that outshone the sun. “I’m _your_ dolt.” 

She was rewarded with a peck on the nose and the softest look she had ever seen. 

“Always.” 

In the frigid tundra of the kingdom of Atlas, they had never felt warmer. 

* * *

Time passed. Months turned into years and the war continued. Yet, they had known without hesitation that today would be the end. Today, in the place it had all begun, they would win the war. 

And they did. 

The relics were won, the Maidens in assembly, and Salem had never been weaker. There, in the rubble that was once Beacon Academy, Ruby stood before Salem. The witch was on her knees, weakened and out of options. She already knew she had lost. 

Ruby looked to Weiss before she activated her eyes. Her love for Weiss was all she needed to use her power. 

Ruby’s eyes erupted a silver wave of life and destruction as she stared down at Salem. And Weiss knew without hesitation: if the gods were to return at this very instant, they would kneel before Ruby Rose. They would bow at her feet and treat her as more than an equal. For her mortal life meant so much more than their infinite existences. 

All was quiet, the world and its fighters waiting with baited breath to see if it was truly done. And it was. In an instant, the war was over. They had won. 

Weiss ran to Ruby, trusting her to catch her in her arms. They spun around before falling to their knees, faces streaked with tears that had been begged to be shed for years. 

The war was over. But they had just begun. 

* * *

The world had been free for six months. 

Every single day, Weiss remembered how she had seen Ruby in the thick of battle, adorned with blood and dirt and sweat and eyes glowing an impossible silver light, and thought of how the Gods themselves would take a knee before her. And she knew she would too. She knew she _wanted_ to. 

So that’s exactly what she did. 

She took Ruby on a surprise trip to Vale, their destination unknown to her girlfriend. With a bright smile and her hand in Ruby’s, Weiss led them back to where they had first met. 

There in the crater that had still yet to be fixed in Beacon Academy’s courtyard, Weiss Schnee took a knee before Ruby Rose and asked her to be her wife. 

(Ruby said yes.) 

* * *

Weiss had a love/hate relationship with the color silver. On one hand, it was the color of Ruby’s eyes. It was that breathtaking silver she saw whenever she looked at the person she loved most, those eyes that were full of such love and devotion to her. 

But it was those eyes, those damned silver eyes that caught the attention of Salem herself. Those same eyes had taken her mother from her and left her with a burden bigger than anyone should have to bear. Those eyes had sealed her fate from her first breath to her last. Those eyes caused her so much pain. 

(Funny, how a silver lining was seen as a sign of hope, but had brought Ruby anything but?) 

But the war was over. Ruby’s eyes were now just eyes, no longer a constant reminder of what was to come. It had already passed. Silver was now just silver. 

Patch this time of year was beautiful, Weiss decided in the back of her mind as she placed a silver ring on Ruby’s finger. But it paled in comparison to her wife. 

Silver was not just silver. Silver was the color of her wife’s eyes, the first thing she saw each morning when she woke up, those eyes that held so much love for the world and its inhabitants and somehow still chose her as it’s favorite sight. Silver was the color of the rings that showed their love to the world. 

Silver, Weiss thought, was her favorite color. 

And Ruby was her forever silver lining. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This one was super fun to write as Whiterose owns my entire heart. Feel free to leave a kudos or comment to let me know your thoughts! Thanks again for reading, and I hope you have a lovely, lovely day!<33


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